1895 Rare Pirate Book - The Life and Adventures of William Dampier with a History of The Buccaneers of America.
(Description)
Author: Unknown.
Title: The Life and Adventures of William Dampier with a History of The Buccaneers of America.
Publisher: London, Blakie and Son, Limited., no date (1895). First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 " X 5.5 ".
Pages: 225 pages + publisher's catalog.
Binding: Very good original full-cloth binding with attractive decorative front paneling (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and clean, some light foxing or staining - as shown, School Prize plate dated 1900 on the first endpaper - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the nice frontispiece illustration by Paul Hardy.
The book: Scarce and attractive edition of The Life and Adventures of William Dampier with a History of The Buccaneers of America.
William Dampier: William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He has also been described as Australia's first natural historian, as well as one of the most important British explorers of the period between Francis Drake (16th century) and James Cook (18th century), he "bridged those two eras" with a mix of piratical derring-do of the former and scientific inquiry of the later. His expeditions were among the first to identify and name a number of plants, animals, foods, and cooking techniques for a European audience; being among the first English writers to use words such as avocado, barbecue, and chopsticks. In describing the preparation of avocados, he was the first European to describe the making of guacamole, named the breadfruit plant, and made frequent documentation of the taste of numerous foods foreign to the European palate such as flamingo and manatee.